Ciao my dear friends, one of the places that I wanted to visit during my trip
to China last summer was Xi'an and the archaeological site of the
famous Terracotta Army. Before leaving, looking at the photos of this wonder of 2000 years ago, grew more and more the desire of admiring it closely. Along with the Great Wall is no accident that it is the China's most celebrated attraction.I arrived in Xi'an with a comfortable flight of China Eastern from Beijing. The
day of arrival I have not neglected to visit the beautiful city,
surrounded by walls built by the founder of the Ming Dynasty, Hong Wu. Very interesting are the two main towers in the center, the Bell Tower and the Drum. Suggestive also the Grand Mosque, located in the muslim district. Before
returning to the hotel, I negotiated with a taxi driver the fare to
reach the site of the Army which is located a few kilometers from the
city. I had not booked any excursions from Italy and I must say, I did well, the cost of the tours are very high. Surely, it is
better to take a taxi for $ 30 that takes you to the site when you want
it, leaves you free and allows, in addition, a considerable saving.The
next day, driven by an impatient curiosity, I arrived at the
excavations, which began in 1974, when by chance some peasants who were
digging a well, found these strange warriors of clay.Dating
back more than 2000 years ago, and precisely when the Emperor Huangdi
Qinshi, unifier of China and founder of the Qin dynasty, decided to
start a series of colossal works which include also the Great Wall. Now
this impressive army is housed in a series of warehouses that preserve them
from the weather, but originally was contained in three crypts covered
by wooden roofs and under a layer of earth. This is probably the reason they came to us in an excellent state of preservation. The
existence of the "warriors" is not mentioned by any historical
document, and, for this reason, the finding was a real surprise. These very tall
statues are placed in the typical battle array, they were full of
weapons (which have almost all been stolen), modeled in yellow clay and painted after cooking. The colors, however, over time, have been lost. The main pit is the number one, where you can see 6000 of 8000 soldiers and horses that are here. It 's amazing how it is accurate the craftmanship of these soldiers. Some have very specific characteristics such as harelip, scars, different hairstyles and expressions from each otherThe function of this army is still a fascinating enigma. The most reliable theories about its meaning are at least three. The
first states that it was created in the absence of an adequate military
deployment, in order to deceive the eye of the enemy from afar, seeing
such a provision militia, so he could give up on an attack. Can
not be explained, however, by this theory, the need to reproduce so
minutely the physiognomic characteristics of the warriors.The
second, that I found the most plausible, explains the terracotta army
as a protection given to the Emperor for the journey to the afterlife. The
third theory, recognizes in the statues, known in antiquity as "light objects",
the substitutes for human sacrifices, because they were
obsolete and abolished. For this theory there is a doubt. If it was a common practice, because there haven't been other similar finds?In short, the enigma is still open and has not found a reliable solution and probably we will never find. The only thing that I surely can do is to show you the pictures of this real wonder.A big kiss to all of you!

Those are unbelievably incredible! I would love to see them and the Great Wall someday! China always seems to be such a land of mystery and intrigue for me! Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures and your experience there! Have a great weekend!

Hey my friend, I've seen the original exposition few years ago in Atlanta, during the expo tour of this magnificent discovery. I've been fascinating for the beautiful and huge collection. I've also bought a small replica of a soldier and it's showed in my family room!I'm so happy to share this fantastic experience with you!kisses